The Walking Dead: Producer Gale Anne Hurd on the Governor, Carol, the Introduction of Abraham and What to Expect from the Remainder of Season 4

The Walking Dead makes its mid-season return this Sunday night on AMC. When last we saw them, the survivors were scattered after the fall of the prison. The finale prior to the break left viewers with several questions, and looking ahead to the planned introduction of Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita.

We had the opportunity to speak with series producer Gale Anne Hurd recently about how, and why, the creative team arrived at the story and character decisions we saw play out in the first half of Season 4, and what we can expect from the final 8 episodes.

1. The Governor:

IGN TV: Did it feel important and necessary to close out The Governor's storyline, to have that definitive closure on him?

Hurd: Yes it did. And that was another thing, being rather bold to take two episodes to build up his character, to understand who Brian/The Governor had become, and that he was unable to outrun his demons.

IGN: Was there ever discussion about peppering his story throughout the season? What ultimately led to the decision to focus in for those two episodes, rather than weave him in throughout the season leading to the ultimate showdown?

Hurd: We knew that we needed to get to the point in his character where the mid-season finale made sense, and there simply wasn't enough time to cut back and forth and follow him for a few scenes here and a few scenes there. We really wanted to be rich and complex and see this new family that he had found, that he had bonded with. It's really difficult to get that same level of understanding of who he is, and who is within his new family, if it's only interspersed with the story of the characters in the prison.

IGN: Did it also feel like it was important to return to the prison for that final battle in order to play out the confrontation that we didn't get to see fully realized at the conclusion of Season 3?

Hurd: Yeah, and that's a part of the character development, how he was able to turn on his own people, and that he wasn't the leader that he thought he was. I suppose in his own mind, he didn't take responsibility for the mistakes that were made. It's always someone else's fault with anything that goes wrong. Then he's left completely bereft. In fact, he's left behind at the beginning of this season. I think all of us, even though I read the scripts and knew where it was going -- because David Morrissey is such a fantastic actor -- you really wanted to believe that he could have been redeemed.

IGN: Was that ever discussed as a possibility?

Hurd: No, no.

Carol:

IGN: One of the fun and interesting aspects of the show is how it takes elements from the comic and ties them in, but creates a twist. And then sometimes, characters or storylines are unique to the series. Carol's story was a standout in the first half of this season, for example. How did the team come to the decision to focus on her and how are we going to see that play out in the second half of the season?

Hurd: The development of Carol as a character is a real tribute to Melissa McBride's ability as an actor. Everything we that threw at her, she was able to transform it into something absolutely amazing. She's riveting. She created such a well-rounded character that you completely bought all of the choices that she made when she went from an abused wife to rather a neat character. It's funny too, because in the first couple of seasons, it was her honesty that we were all for. She forced Darryl to confront some things about himself. Then of course she had to begin to create a facade so that she could save the kids, to teach them the skills that they needed to survive, when they were forced to take up arms. It's a tribute to her that they did survive, that so many of them did, because of the skills that she taught them. And yet, she becomes almost unrecognizable as a character through that evolution from the abused wife of the first season. It's really organic storytelling to serve all of the characters in our ensemble cast and to challenge them, and to complicate the story for the characters who remain.

IGN: There have been a lot of theories popping up about Carol and those girls. Do you guys pay any attention to the fan speculation?

Hurd: No, nope!

IGN: [Laughs] You just ignore it?

Hurd: Yeah. You just can't -- because, first of all, we have crafted an entire season long before we even start shooting, and we start shooting in May, we start airing in October -- at that point, everything has been written and filmed, essentially.

Continue on for more on the introduction of Abraham and what's ahead for Season 4...